Energy 172 (2019) 712e732

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Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy

Theoretical model of energy performance prediction and BEP

determination for centrifugal pump as turbine
Ming Liu, Lei Tan*, Shuliang Cao
State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Pump as Turbine (PAT) is an effective alternative of power generation for small hydropower system. Since
Received 6 August 2018 the characteristic curves under turbine mode are not supplied by manufacturer of pumps, the theoretical
Received in revised form model for energy performance of centrifugal turbomachinery under pump and turbine modes is pro-
3 January 2019
posed by means of detailed modeling of losses inside hydraulic machinery. Based on the theoretical
Accepted 30 January 2019
model, a flowrate-based iteration method is proposed to determine the best efficiency point (BEP) under
Available online 2 February 2019
turbine mode. In order to validate the accuracy of established theoretical model, case studies are carried
out under three centrifugal pumps, with the specific speed varied from 103 to 187, and the predicted
Keywords:
Pump as turbine
results by theoretical model are compared with experimental measurements and numerical simulations.
Theoretical model It is found that the average relative variations for prediction of pump head and efficiency are 6.12% and
Centrifugal pump 5.51%, respectively, and they are 5.40% and 3.63% for turbine head and efficiency, which is of sufficient
Best efficiency point accuracy for engineering practice. The predicted BEP under turbine mode is also of great accuracy, with
Energy performance prediction relative variation of 1.28% on average. In addition, the PAT performance as well as losses under pump and
turbine modes have been analyzed in detail.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction also proves to be effective in water distribution network [11,12],

It is of urgent demand for energy source with rapid economy
development, and hydropower is one of the most stable renewable
energy up to now. Large hydropower stations have achieved great
success in many countries and regions [1,2]. However, the building
cost and public affair can restrict their broader application, since
huge reservoir is necessary and it may induce human rehabilitation
[3,4]. Hence, the small hydropower station is an alternative for
exploitation and utilization of hydropower source [5]. Commonly,
the hydraulic turbine in hydropower station should be specifically
designed with professional knowledge. In recent decades, the
pump as turbine (PAT) has attracted much attention for energy
production in small hydropower station in amount of its low cost
and wide application. For the PAT, the conventional pumps operate
reversely under the turbine mode, and considerable energy per-
formance can be harvested [6,7]. Preliminary investigation on PAT
technique was conducted on 1980s [8], and it has been applied
successfully in engineering practice [9,10]. Additionally, the PAT
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: tanlei@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn (L. Tan).
substituting pressure reducing valves [13] and leakage control [14],
which demonstrates their huge potential in applications. In water
distribution network, PAT has been applied to replace pressure
reduction valves, which is useful to avoid energy dissipation [15].
Case studies have been carried out in Lao [16] and Italy [17,18], and
it proves to be useful for avoiding energy dissipation. The optimal
capacities [19], location [20], installation scheme [21] and regula-
tion procedure [22] of PAT are also been investigated to maximize
the effectiveness. It has also been coupled with osmotic desalina-
tion plants to reduce the cost of reverse osmosis [23].
The efficiency and stability of PATs are the most important issues
in operation of hydropower station. Therefore, large quantities of
studies have been conducted to investigate the energy performance
and operation mechanism of PAT on centrifugal [24e26] and axial
pumps [28] with different specific speeds. Commonly, PATs operate
at a larger flow rate region in comparison of pump mode in sum-
mary of systematic research on centrifugal PATs with specific
speeds from 14 to 56 [24]. Computational Fluids Dynamics (CFD)
method has been employed as an effective tool to predict perfor-
mance [29] and investigate hydraulic loss of PAT [30]. Good coin-
cidence between experimental measurement and numerical
simulation can be obtained by means of Spalart-Allmaras

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.01.162
0360-5442/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732 713

turbulence model on an axial PAT for low-head Pico hydro plants characteristics. Although sufficient accuracy has been achieved, the
[27]. The numerical simulation has also been applied to reveal the methods mentioned above still rely on data fitting with huge
unsteady characteristic of PAT in volute section, rotor vane, ring quantities of statistics. Consequently, these methods are case-
region and bilateral chamber [28], and the frequent bi-directional sensitive and hard to extend in a wide range of specific speeds.
flow near volute tongue can be observed. Based on the experi- In spite of abundant studies on one dimensional energy pre-
mental and numerical studies of PAT, the influence of geometrical diction model for pumps, the extension to energy performance
and operational parameters on PAT performance has been evalu- prediction on PAT mode and the determination of BEP on PAT mode
ated, including impeller shape [31e35], impeller diameter [35e37], are rare. In the present work, the theoretical model of energy
and rotating speed [38]. The corresponding methods for perfor- performance prediction for centrifugal pump as turbine under
mance improvement of PAT have also been proposed, such as pump and turbine modes is established based on detailed analysis
impeller rounding [31,32], impeller trimming [33] and adjustable of losses, and a flowrate-based iteration method is proposed to
guide vanes [34]. determine the BEP under turbine mode. The loss model method
In the design procedure of hydropower station with PAT, the and BEP determination methods are applied on three types of
estimation for characteristic curve is critical for selection of PAT, centrifugal PAT to demonstrate its accuracy in the present work.
because the characteristic curve under turbine mode is unknown.
Therefore, many efforts have been paid to evaluate the energy 2. Theoretical model of energy prediction under pump mode
performance of PATs. The loss model method is an effective means
for rapid evaluation of energy performance for hydraulic machin- In this section, the theoretical model of energy prediction under
ery. This method usually determines the energy performance by pump mode is established by calculating theoretical head as well as
calculating various losses on basis of one-dimensional analysis, losses. The typical structure of a centrifugal pump consists of inlet
since it mainly depends on geometrical dimensions [39]. In pumps, pipe, impeller and volute, as displayed in Fig. 1. The theoretical
the head and efficiency can be accurately predicted in a wide range model of energy prediction under pump mode is referred to the
of flow rate by loss model method [40], and a good coincidence can literature [40] with acceptable accuracy.
be obtained with maximum deviation of 15% [41]. In turbines, the
efficiency characteristic of a mix-flow turbine is determined by 2.1. Theoretical head
calculation of losses in volute casing, impeller and diffuser, and
good agreement with measured performance can be achieved [42]. According to the Euler equation in hydraulic machinery, the
A mean line model was proposed to calculate losses in volute, theoretical head Hth,P is defined as follows:
nozzle and impeller of a mix-flow turbine with maximum deviation
of 7.9% [43]. In centrifugal PATs, a one-dimensional model [44] was cu2;P u2;P  cu1;P u1;P
Hth;P ¼ (1)
also proposed to estimate the energy performance by loss calcu- g
lation with determined geometrical components, and the estima-
tion error of this model was within 20%. To improve prediction where cu is the circumferential component of absolute velocity, u is
accuracy of PATs, an optimization routine was introduced by col- the circumferential velocity of impeller, the subscripts 1 and 2
lecting additional experimental data, and the errors can fall within denote impeller inlet and outlet, respectively, and the subscript P
4% [45]. From the above, it can be found that the loss model method denotes pump mode, g is the acceleration of gravity.
has been applied successfully in pump, turbine, and PAT under Generally, due to the axial inflow under pump mode, cu1,P is
turbine mode, while the systematic investigation for theoretical equal to zero. The value of cu2,P can be determined according to the
model of energy performance prediction for centrifugal turboma-
chinery under both pump and turbine modes is still rare.
The determination of best efficiency point (BEP) is also vital in
operation of hydropower station. Since the BEP at turbine mode is
not offered by pump manufacturer, various prediction method for
BEP of PAT has been proposed. Williams compared eight classical
prediction methods for BEP of PAT [46], and it is found that even
using the most accurate method of Sharma, 20% of the prediction
values will fall outside the acceptable range. To obtain a satisfactory
prediction, the Modified Affinity Law is employed with the
assumption that the variation of BEP with rotational speed could be
deduced [47]. Yang [48] developed a theoretical method for pre-
dicting the BEP of PAT on basis of a fitting linear relationship be-
tween pump specific speed and turbine specific speed, and the BEP
under turbine mode can be derived with maximum error of 6%.
Conversion relation of PATs on head, BEP and specific speed has
been established based on the theoretical analysis and experi-
mental regression. To improve the prediction accuracy, the flow
rate amplification coefficient is introduced, and the error can be
reduced to 2.81% on average [49]. Derakhshan presented a theo-
retical method to calculate BEP of PAT based on pump performance
using area ratio method [50], and the predicted values were
somewhat lower than experimental measurement by 4.7%. The
rotor-volute matching principle is also applied to improve the
prediction accuracy [51]. According to this method, the error of
predicted flow rate, head and efficiency under BEP is within 5%,
while the study still needs to a further extension on overall Fig. 1. Typical structure of centrifugal pump.
714 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732

velocity triangle at the impeller outlet, as depicted in Fig. 2, where where cm2,P is the meridional velocity at pump outlet.
b2,P is the blade angle at impeller outlet, c and w denote absolute According to above equations, the theoretical head under pump
velocity and relative velocity, respectively, cm2 is the meridional mode can be derived.
component of the absolute velocity. The subscript ∞ represent the
value under infinite number of infinitely thin blade, where the fluid
motion is strictly controlled by the blade shape and the flow angle 2.2. Loss in inlet pipe
is the same as the blade angle. However, in practical situations, the
blade is finite with certain thickness, so the slip phenomenon oc- The hydraulic friction is the major loss in inlet pipe, which can
curs, as displayed by cu2∞, wu2∞ (infinite blade) and cu2, wu2 (finite be calculated as:
blade) in Fig. 2. The difference of circumferential component of
absolute velocity between infinite blade condition and finite blade lin;P c0;P 2
DhInf;P ¼ l (6)
condition is considered by taking account of the slip effect as Din;P 2g
follows:
where l is the friction coefficient depending on the Reynolds
Dcu2;P ¼ cu2∞;P  cu2;P (2) number, lin and Din are the length and hydraulic diameter of inlet
pipe, c0,P is the axial velocity in inlet pipe calculated by:
The slip coefficient sP is introduced to determine Dcu2,P as
follows: Q
c0;P ¼
 (7)
p D 2D 2
Dcu2;P 4 0;P 1h;P
sP ¼ 1  (3)
u2;P
where D0,P is the diameter of inlet pipe, D1h,P is the hub diameter at
The Stodola equation is applied to calculate the slip coefficient impeller inlet, Q is the flow rate.
sP as follows: In the present study, all the friction coefficient l is determined
based on the Reynolds number, which is calculated by:
p sinb2;P
sP ¼ 1  (4) 0:3164
Z l¼ (8)
Re1=4
where Z is the blade number.
In Eq. (2), the circumferential component of absolute velocity This relation is effective for Re < 106 in engineering application,
under infinite blade condition cu2∞,P can be obtained based on the and the Reynolds numbers of flow inside pumps and turbines in the
velocity triangle by: present work are of 105 magnitude.

cm2;P
cu2∞;P ¼ u2;P  (5) 2.3. Loss in impeller
tanb2;P

(1) Incidence loss

Fig. 2. Velocity triangle at impeller outlet and vectors in impeller (Pump mode).
 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732 715

Under off-design conditions, the flow angle at impeller inlet will diameter of impeller passage, which can be calculated as approxi-
deviate from the blade angle and it will lead to incidence loss, mate rectangle:
which is defined as:  
1 4S1;P 4S2;P
Dhyd;P ¼ þ (14)
Dw1;P 2 2 C1;P C2;P
Dhinc;P ¼ finc (9)
2g
where S is the sectional area of impeller passage and C is the cor-
where finc is incidence loss coefficient with value of 0.5e0.8 [52], responding wetted perimeter.
Dw1,P is the difference of relative velocity, which can be determined
according to velocity triangle as depicted in Fig. 3, where w1d,P is (3) Blade loading loss
the relative velocity under design condition, w10,P is the imaginary
relative velocity compromised of blade angle. The blade loading loss is induced by the pressure difference
The value of Dw1,P can be derived by the velocity triangle as from pressure side to suction side, which affects the secondary flow
follows: and boundary layer separation inside impeller passage. The blade
loading loss model proposed by Lieblein [53] and Coppage [54] is
c1;P  c1d;P Q  Qd;P employed in the present work, which describes the pressure
Dw1;P ¼ u1;P ¼ u1;P (10)
gradient by diffuser ratio Df,P as follows:
c1d;P Qd;P

where Qd,P is the design flow rate under pump mode. w2;P 0:75gHth;P 1 w2;P
Df;P ¼ 1  þ
 (15)
Therefore, the Eq. (8) can be rewritten as: w1t;P u22;P Z D1t;P 2D1t;P w1t;P
p 1 D2;P þ D2;P
!2
finc Q  Qd;P where w1t,P and D1t,P are the relative velocity and diameter at
Dhinc;P ¼ u1;P (11)
2g Qd;P shroud of impeller inlet. Then, the blade loading loss can be
calculated by:

u2;P 2
Dhbl;P ¼ 0:05Df;P 2 (16)
(2) Surface friction loss g

The surface friction loss results from the wall boundary layer of
blade surface and impeller chamber, which can be calculated by:
(4) Separation loss
lb;P w1;P 2 þ w2;P 2
Dhsf;P ¼ Zl (12) The separation loss is caused by the reverse pressure gradient
Dhyd;P 4g
along the flow direction and corresponding boundary layer loss.
where lb,P is the average length of space bone line of blade as Previous studies [55] indicate that the separation loss appears
follows: when the ratio of w1t,P/w2,P reaches 1.4, and it can be calculated as
follows:
D2;P  D1;P 8  2
lb;P ¼ (13) >
> w1t;P w2;P 2 w1t;P
2 sinb2a;P >
> fseq;P  1:4 ; > 1:4
< w g w2;P
2;P
Dhsep;P ¼ (17)
where D is the impeller diameter. Dhyd,P denotes the hydraulic >
> w1t;P
>
> 0;  1:4
: w2;P

where fseq,P is the flow separation loss coefficient with the range of
0.4e0.8.

(5) Wake mixing loss

Because of the divergent structure of impeller and sudden

expansion at the trailing edge of impeller, there will occur jet-wake
at impeller outlet, which leads to mixing loss. The wake mixing loss
is determined by Ref. [56]:

"   #2 !2
1  εwake;P b2;P 1 cm2;P
Dhmix;P ¼ 1  (18)
bVol 1  εwake;P 2g

where b2,P is the blade width at impeller outlet, bVol is the width of
volute, εwake,P is the wake coefficient, which is calculated by:

w2;P
εwake;P ¼ 1   (19)
w1;P 1:4

Fig. 3. Velocity triangle at impeller inlet under off-design condition (Pump mode).
716 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732

(6) Recirculation loss by:

 2
Under partial flow rate, part of fluid will flow back to the cu2;P  v8;P þ cm2;P 2
impeller due to the relatively large adverse pressure gradient at DhVmix;P ¼ kVmix;P (28)
2g
impeller outlet. This fluid consumes additional shaft work in the
impeller and results in recirculation loss, which can be determined where kVmix is the incidence mix loss coefficient equal to 0.45 [57],
by: v8,P is the velocity of eighth section of volute that connects spiral
  part and diffuser part, as displayed in Fig. 4.
tan p2  a2;P Df ;P 2 u2;P 2
DPrec;P ¼ 0:03rl gQ * (20)
g (2) Friction loss of spiral part

where a2,P is the absolute flow angle at impeller outlet under pump Since the section area gradually varies along the spiral section, it
mode, Q* ¼ Q þDQlk,P is the ideal flow rate, and DQlk,P is the leakage is hard to calculate the cross velocity as well as friction coefficient in
flow rate. each section. Therefore, the friction loss in the spiral section is
calculated based on the hydraulic parameters on the eighth section
(7) Disk friction loss of volute as follows [51]:

The disk friction loss is due to the friction between the fluid and lVol v8 2
pump chamber, and is defined as: DhVsf;P ¼ l (29)
DVol 2g

DPdf ;P ¼ fdf;P rl D2;P 2 u2;P 3 (21) where lVol is the effective length of spiral part,

where fdf,P is the disk friction loss coefficient [55], which can be 4pðDb þ 2r8 Þ
lVol ¼ (30)
calculated by: 360
8
> 0:166875 where 4 is the wrap angle of volute, Db is the diameter of base circle
>
> ; Redf;P < 3  105
>
< Redf ;P 0:5 of volute, r8 is the equivalent radius of pipe, DVol is the equivalent
fdf;P ¼ (22) hydraulic diameter of volute passage.
>
> 0:0038875
>
> ; Redf;P  3  105 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
:
Redf ;P 0:2 r8 ¼ F8 =p (31)

where the Reynolds number Redf,P ¼ rlu2,PD2,P/2ml, and ml is the 4F8

dynamic viscosity. DVol ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (32)
2 pF8  bVol

(8) Leakage loss where F8 is the area of eighth section of volute.

The leakage flow is induced by the clearance between impeller (3) Friction loss of diffuser part
and casing. It causes leakage flow, which is defined by:

DPlk;P ¼ rl gDQlk;P Hth;P (23)

qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
DQlk;P ¼ Clkf ;P Alk;P 2gDHm;P (24)

1
Clkf;P ¼ rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (25)
l Xlk;P
1 þ 0:5hlk;P þ lk;P 2Ylk;P

Alk;P ¼ D0;P pYlk;P (26)

3 u2;P 2  u1;P 2
DHm ¼ (27)
4 2g

where Clkf,P is the leakage flow rate coefficient, hlk,P is the rounded
coefficient at the entrance of ring clearance with the range of
0.5e0.9, llk,P is hydraulic resistance coefficient within clearance
flow with the range of 0.04e0.06, Xlk,P and Ylk,P are the axial and
radial distance of ring clearance, respectively.

2.4. Loss in volute

(1) Incidence loss of spiral part

The incidence loss at the inlet of spiral part can be determined Fig. 4. Sections in volute.
 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732 717

The hydraulic friction loss inside diffuser part can be determined

as follows:
 2
1 F9 v 2
DhVdsf ;P ¼ l q
1 9 (33)
8 tan 2 F8 2g

where F9 is the area of diffuser outlet and v9 is the velocity at

diffuser outlet, q is the equivalent diffuser angle.
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi!
F9 =p  F8 =p
q ¼ 2 arctan (34)
lD

where lD is the length of diffuser passage.

(4) Separation loss of diffuser part

The divergent structure of diffuser part will lead to the separa-

tion of boundary layer and cause losses, which can be calculated by:
 2
F9 v9 2
DhVdiff;P ¼ kVdiff sin q 1 (35)
F8 2g

where kVdiff is the diffuser loss coefficient equal to 6.5 [57].

Fig. 5. Typical structure of centrifugal PAT.

2.5. Pump efficiency

So far, the losses in inlet pipe, impeller and volute under pump  
mode have been modeled, and the total hydraulic loss Dhint,P can be cu1;T u1;T  cu2;T u2;T u G1;T  G2;T
Hth;T ¼ ¼ (39)
determined by summing up all the losses above: g g

Dhint;P ¼ DhInf;P þ Dhinc;P þ Dhsf;P þ Dhbl;P þ Dhsep;P þ Dhmix;P where u is the rotation speed of impeller, G is the circulation, the
þ DhVmix;P þ DhVsf ;P þ DhVdsf;P þ DhVdiff;P subscript T denotes turbine mode.
The circulation at impeller inlet under turbine mode can be
(36)
determined by the designed circulation of volute as follows:
The actual head HP under pump mode is:
 
HP ¼ Hth;P  Dhint;P Db
(37) G1;T ¼ GVol ¼ v8 þ r8 (40)
2
Additional losses, including disk friction loss and leakage loss
should also been considered when calculating total efficiency as The slip effect must also be considered when calculating the
follows: circulation at impeller outlet. Fig. 6 depicts velocity triangle at
impeller outlet under turbine mode. Under pump mode, the flow
 
rl gQ Hth;P  Dhint;P angle at impeller outlet is smaller than the blade angle due to slip
hP ¼ (38) effect. By comparison, the flow angle at impeller outlet is larger
rl gQHth;P þ DPrec;P þ DPdf;P þ DPlk;P
than the blade angle under turbine mode. Therefore, the slip co-
According to above analysis, the theoretical model for energy efficient under turbine mode sT is larger than 1 as follows:
performance under pump mode is established, by which the pump
head and efficiency can be predicted.
Dcu2;T
sT ¼ 1  >1 (41)
u2;T
3. Theoretical model of energy prediction under turbine
The Stodola equation for slip coefficient should be revised into:
mode

In this section, the theoretical model of energy prediction under p sinb2;T

turbine mode is proposed based on model under turbine mode. The sT ¼ 1 þ (42)
Z
calculation methods for theoretical head and turbine losses have
The circumferential component of absolute velocity under
been improved to satisfy the condition when pumps run reversely
infinite blade condition cu2∞,T can also be determined according to
as turbines. The sketch of PAT is displayed in Fig. 5, where the flow
the velocity triangle by:
direction is opposite to that under pump mode in Fig. 1.

cm2;T
3.1. Theoretical head cu2∞;T ¼ u2;T  (43)
tanb2;T

Likewise, the theoretical head under turbine mode is also Based on above analysis, the theoretical head under turbine
defined by the Euler equation as follows: mode can be obtained.
718 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732

Fig. 6. Velocity triangle at impeller outlet and vectors in impeller (Turbine mode).

3.2. Loss in volute However, the design flow rate under turbine mode Qd,T is still
unknown when pump runs as turbine, and the method to deter-
Under turbine mode, the diffuser part of volute will serve as a mine Qd,T will be proposed in the following section.
contraction part under reverse operation, so the separation loss can
be neglected. (2) Surface friction loss

(1) Friction loss of contraction part lb;T w21;T þ w22;T

Dhsf;T ¼ Z l (47)
 2 Dhyd;T 4g
1 F9 v 2
DhVdsf;T ¼ l 1 9 (44)
8 tan 2q F8 2g
D1;T  D2;T
lb;T ¼ (48)
2 sinb1a;T
(2) Friction loss of spiral part
 
1 4S1;T 4S2;T
lVol v8 2 Dhyd;T ¼ þ (49)
DhVsf;T ¼ l (45) 2 C1;T C2;T
DVol 2g

(3) Blade loading loss

3.3. Loss in impeller
u1;T2
Dhbl;P ¼ 0:05Df ;P 2 (50)
The fluid in impeller under turbine mode is accelerated with g
positive pressure gradient, therefore, the separation loss, wake
mixing loss and recirculation loss can be neglected under turbine w1;T 0:75gHth;T 1 w1;T
mode. It should be noted that the inlet and outlet are both reverse Df;T ¼ 1  þ
 (51)
w2t;T u1;T2 Z D2t;P 2D2t;T w2t;T
between pump mode and turbine mode, and the subscript, 1,P p 1 D1;P þ D1;P
becomes 2,T and 2,P becomes 1,T.
It should be mentioned that, the slip effect must be taken into
consideration when calculating the relative velocity at shroud of
(1) Incidence loss
impeller outlet under turbine mode w2t,T.

According to previous analysis under pump mode, the incidence

(4) Disk friction loss
loss can be expressed as follows:
!2 DPdf;T ¼ fdf;T rl D2;T 2 u2;T 3 (52)
f Q  Qd;T
Dhinc;T ¼ inc u1;T (46)
2g Qd;T
(5) Leakage loss
 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732 719

DPlk;T ¼ rl gDQlk;T Hth;T (53) Dhint;T ¼ DhVsf ;T þ DhVdsf ;t þ Dhinc;T þ Dhsf;T þ Dhbl;T þ DhOuf;T
(60)
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
DQlk;T ¼ Clkf ;T Alk;T 2g DHm;T (54)
HT ¼ Hth;T  Dhint;T (61)

Since pump is working machine while turbine runs as a prime

1
Clkf;T ¼ rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi (55) motor, the expression to calculate total efficiency hT is somewhat
l Xlk;T
1 þ 0:5hlk;T þ lk;T 2Ylk;T
different as follows:
 
r gQ Hth;T  Dhint;T  DPdf ;T  DPlk;T
hT ¼ l (62)
Alk;T ¼ D0;T pYlk;T (56) rl gQHth;T
To make a summary of the theoretical model, the required pa-
2 2
3 u2;T  u1;T rameters are clarified into five types, including physical constants,
DHm ¼ (57) physical parameters, design parameters, geometry parameters and
4 2g
model coefficient, as listed in Table 1. According to the listed pa-
rameters, the required velocity can be calculated from hydraulic
equations, and then the losses can be determined.
There are totally four model coefficients in present theoretical
3.4. Loss in outlet pipe model, namely, incidence loss coefficient finc, flow separation loss
coefficient fseq, incidence mix loss coefficient kVmix and diffuser loss
The inlet pipe under pump mode serves as an outlet pipe under coefficient kVdiff. All these coefficients are set according to previous
turbine mode, and the hydraulic friction loss can be calculated as: literature. The incidence loss coefficient finc refers to Ref. [52]. The
flow separation loss coefficient fseq refers to Ref. [55]. The incidence
lin;T c3;T 2 mix loss coefficient kVmix and diffuser loss coefficient kVdiff refer to
DhOuf ;T ¼ l (58) Ref. [57].
Din;T 2g
To improve the robust of theoretical model, those coefficients
are given as Table 2 for three cases, which have proved to be
Q acceptable in previous studies and present study.
c3;T ¼
 (59)
p D 2D 2
4 3;T 2h;T
3.6. Flowrate-based iteration method of BEP determination

In the above losses calculation, the BEP of PAT under turbine

mode is still unknown. Hence, a flowrate-based iteration method is
3.5. Turbine efficiency proposed to determine the BEP under turbine mode in the present
work. Fig. 7 shows the flow chart of this method to determine QBEP,T
by iteration. During each iteration, a value of Qd,T is assumed, and

Table 1
Input parameters for theoretical model.

Type Parameter Meaning

Physical constants g Acceleration of gravity

Physical parameters r Density
m Dynamic viscosity
Design parameters QPd BEP at pump mode
n Rotational speed
Geometry parameters D1h Hub diameter at impeller inlet
D1s Shroud diameter at impeller inlet
D2 Diameter at impeller outlet
b2 Blade width at impeller outlet
b1h Hub blade angle at impeller inlet
b1s Shroud blade angle at impeller inlet
b2h Hub blade angle at impeller outlet
b2s Shroud blade angle at impeller outlet
Z Blade number of impeller
D0 Diameter of suction pipe
lSuc Length of suction pipe
Rb Radius of base circle in volute
F8 Area of 8th section in volute
4 Wrap angle of volute
b3 Volute width
lD Passage length of diffuser section in Volute
R9 Equivalent radius of diffuser section in Volute
Model coefficient finc Incidence loss coefficient
fseq Flow separation loss coefficient
kVmix Incidence mix loss coefficient
kVdiff Diffuser loss coefficient
720 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732

Table 2 4.1. Physical model and computational domain

Specific values of model coefficients.

Item Pump mode Turbine mode
finc 0.6 0.8
fseq 0.61 None
kVmix 0.45 None
kVdiff 6.5 None
the energy characteristic curve of PAT can be obtained in a given
range of flow rate. After calculating performance under various
flow rates, the performance curve can be obtained by data fitting
method, and the cubic spline fitting is employed in the present
study. Afterwards, the best efficiency point can be found according
to performance curve. The flow rate at BEP can be obtained and
compared with the assumed Qd,T. Once the relative error between
the calculated QBEP,T and assumed Qd,T below a setting value, it can
be stated that the iteration is converged and the QBEP,T is obtained.
So far, the theoretical model for energy performance prediction
under turbine mode is established, by which the head and effi-
ciency can be predicted.
4. Result and discussion
In order to validate the accuracy of proposed theoretical model
of energy performance prediction for centrifugal pump as turbine
under pump and turbine modes, and the flowrate-based iteration
method of BEP determination under turbine mode, three single-
stage centrifugal pumps with specific speed of 103 (case A), 131
(case B) and 187 (case C) are employed in the present work. The
specific speed Ns is defined as: Ns ¼ 3.65nQ0.5/H0.75.
Table 3 lists parameters of the tested centrifugal pump [58e60].
Figs. 8e10 show the physical model and computational domain for
experimental measurement and numerical simulation for cases A-
C, respectively. The employed computational domain consists of
three parts: inlet pipe (under pump mode), impeller and volute.
The regions upstream impeller and downstream volute are
extended with 5 times length of pipe diameter to guarantee the
stable calculation. The commercial mesh software is employed to
generate the structured mesh, including ANSYS ICEM CFD 17.0 for
inlet/outlet pipe and volute, and ANSYS TurboGrid 17.0 for impeller.
By means of the O-block technique around impeller and the local
refinement on wall surface, the detailed flow can be captured in the
simulation, as shown in Fig. 11.
4.2. Experimental settings
Figs. 12 and 13 show the schematic diagram of test apparatus
and pump [61,62], which consists of (1) water supply section: water
tank, circulating pump, buffer tank, flow meter, inlet regulating
valve and vacuum gauge; (2) pump section: centrifugal pump,
composite torque detector and electric motor; (3) outlet section:
pressure gauge and outlet regulating valve.
The uncertainties of flow rate measurement EQ, head measure-
ment EH, shaft power measurement ET in the experimental mea-
surement are 0.27%, 0.07% and 0.209%, respectively. Therefore, the
system uncertainty is calculated as 0.349% by:
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Es ¼ E2Q þ E2H þ E2T (63)

Fig. 7. Flowrate-based iteration method.

 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732 721

Table 3
Parameters of centrifugal pump.

Item Unit Value (case A) Value (case B) Value (case C)

Volumetric flow rate Qd,P m3/h 25 100 100

Head HP m 7 32 20
Rotational speed n rpm 1450 2900 2900
Blade number of impeller Z 7 6 6
Hub diameter of impeller inlet D1h,P mm 10 40 8
Shroud diameter of impeller inlet D1h,P mm 50 103.6 87.3
Diameter of impeller outlet D2,P mm 164 180 145
Diameter of inlet pipe D0 mm 60 103.6 87.3

Fig. 8. Physical model and computational domain (Case A).

Fig. 9. Physical model and computational domain (Case B).

4.3. Numerical method
The three-dimensional turbulent flow field inside the centrifu-
gal turbomachinery under pump and turbine modes are solved by
means of commercial CFD codes ANSYS CFX 17.0 [29,30]. The Shear
Stress Transport (SST) k-u turbulence model is employed. The SST
k-u turbulence model is capable of accurate prediction for the onset
and quantity of flow separation due to adverse pressure gradients.
The superior performance of this model has been validated in
various studies on hydraulic machinery [28,62]. The boundary
conditions consist of an imposed static pressure at pump/turbine
inlet, a given mass flow rate at pump/turbine outlet and no-slip
wall on other wall surfaces. The interfaces between pipe and
impeller, between impeller and volute are connected by the tech-
nique of frozen rotor method. The steady simulation is stated to
reach convergence when root-mean-square is below criterion of
1  105. The applied numerical methods have proved to be reliable
and accurate in previous studies [63e66].
The mesh element and quality play vital roles on numerical
simulation. In the present work, five sets of mesh with elements
from 2.49  106 to 8.37  106 are employed for independence test
of mesh elements in Case A. In the independence test, the mesh
elements of impeller vary while the meshes of pipe and volute
remain the same, since impeller is the most significant part for
energy conversion in hydraulic machinery. Table 4 lists the mesh
elements and corresponding simulated energy performance of
722 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732
Fig. 10. Physical model and computational domain (Case C).
Fig. 11. Mesh generation.
design condition under pump mode. The simulated results are
almost stable when mesh elements reach 4  106, therefore the
Mesh 3 with 5.48  106 elements is selected for the following
investigation in amount of simulation accuracy and computation
resource. For Cases B and C, the independence test of mesh ele-
ments has also been conducted, and the number of employed mesh
elements for Cases B and C are 6751413 and 4898230.
Fig. 14 shows the comparison between numerical simulations
and experiment measurements. The employed numerical method
can be validated to be accurate, because the simulated results are in
good coincidence with the experiment measurements in a wide
scope of flow rate. Previous studies [38] also indicates that the
reliable numerical methods for pump mode are still effective under
turbine mode. Therefore, the numerical results under pump and
turbine modes are employed in the following sections for detail
analysis.
4.4. Theoretical model analysis
(a) Case A
Fig. 15 shows the energy performance of centrifugal PAT by
numerical simulation. The BEP under turbine mode shifts towards
the larger flow rate compared with the pump mode, and the BEP
ratio qBEP ¼ QBEP,T/QBEP,P is 1.2171. The best efficiency of 75.63%
under turbine mode is slightly lower than 77.24% under pump
mode. There appears wide scope of high efficiency region with the
turbine efficiency higher than 70%, from 0.8QBEP,T to 1.4QBEP,T. The
characteristic curve of turbine efficiency is almost flat under large
flow rates. This wide high efficiency region is essential for the safe
and stable operation under turbine mode.
Both head and shaft power rise with the increasing of flow rate,
and show an approximate linear relation versus flow rate. Ac-
cording to the characteristic curves in Fig. 15, it can be stated that
the centrifugal PAT has attractive energy performance under tur-
bine mode, and will have high economic value in small hydropower
station.
Figs. 16 and 17 show the comparison of head and efficiency
between numerical simulated results and theoretical model pre-
dicted results under pump and turbine modes, respectively. The
prediction results agree well with simulation results, which vali-
dates the accuracy and reliability of proposed theoretical model of
energy performance prediction under pump and turbine modes.
Under pump mode, the average relative deviations between theo-
retical prediction and numerical simulation are 6.93% and 4.29% for
head and efficiency, respectively. Under turbine mode, the average
relative deviations are 6.06% and 4.72% for head and efficiency,
respectively.
According to the flowrate-based iteration method for BEP under
turbine mode, the value of Qd,T is calculated as 25.92 m3/h, which is
highly close to 25.50 m3/h of numerical simulation, and the relative
deviation is only 1.65%. Therefore, the proposed flowrate-based
iteration method can be effective to determine the BEP under tur-
bine mode.
Above results shows that the relative deviation of head predic-
tion under pump mode is slightly higher than that under turbine
mode, especially under off-design conditions. The reason is that
under pump mode, the flow passage in impeller is divergent and
the flow separation will be induced due to the reverse pressure
gradient. While under turbine mode, the flow passage in impeller is
convergent, and the separation loss, wake mixing loss and recir-
culation loss can be neglected. Therefore, the prediction results of
this theoretical loss model for turbine mode will be more accurate
than that at pump mode.
(b) Case B
 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732 723

Fig. 12. Schematic diagram of the experimental rig: (1) electric motor; (2) composite torque detector; (3) tested centrifugal pump; (4) pressure gauge; (5) outlet regulating valve;
(6) water tank; (7) circulating pump; (8) buffer tank; (9) flowmeter; (10) inlet regulating valve; (11) vacuum gauge.

Fig. 13. Tested pump and motor.

Table 4 be observed under large flow rates. The BEP ratio qBEP ¼ QBEP,T/QBEP,P
Independence test of mesh elements. is 1.2680 for case B. The best efficiency under turbine mode is
Item Mesh 1 Mesh 2 Mesh 3 Mesh 4 Mesh 5 74.69%, which is slightly lower than that of 75.15% under pump
Pipe 1104000 1104000 1104000 1104000 1104000
mode.
Impeller 772464 2284128 3758664 5183521 6654683 Figs. 19 and 20 show the numerical simulated results and
Volute 615244 615244 615244 615244 615244 theoretical model predicted results for PAT under pump and tur-
Total 2491708 4003372 5477908 6902765 8373927 bine modes, respectively. The results show that the tendency of
Head (m) 6.99 6.99 6.99 6.98 6.98
characteristic curves is accurately predicted by the proposed
Efficiency (%) 75.36 75.63 75.68 75.68 75.68
theoretical loss model. Under pump mode, the average relative
deviations between theoretical prediction and numerical simula-
tion are 7.92% and 8.10% for head and efficiency, respectively. Under
Fig. 18 shows the energy performance of centrifugal pump as turbine mode, the average relative deviations are 6.95% and 2.55%
turbine for case B, which is quite similar to that for case A. The wide for head and efficiency, respectively. The predicted BEP under tur-
high efficiency region and flat characteristic curve of efficiency can bine mode by the proposed flowrate-based iteration method is
724 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732

127.36 m3/h, which is quite close to 126.80 m3/h of numerical

simulation with relative deviation of 0.44%.

(c) Case C

Fig. 21 depicts the energy performance of PAT for case C. The

characteristic curves are similar to that of case A and case B,
especially the flat and high efficiency region under large flow rates
and the sudden decline under small flow rates. The best efficiency
of 79.47% at turbine mode is lower than that of 80.77% at pump
mode. The BEP ratio qBEP ¼ QBEP,T/QBEP,P is 1.4270 for case C.
The comparison of energy performance between numerical
simulated results and theoretical model predicted results under
pump and turbine modes is illustrated in Figs. 22 and 23, respec-
tively. Under pump mode, the average relative deviations for pump
head and efficiency are 3.51% and 4.15%, respectively. The good
coincidence appears around the best efficiency point. Under tur-
bine mode, the relative average deviations for head and efficiency
are 3.20% and 3.62%, respectively. The predicted BEP under turbine
mode is still of good accuracy, which is 140.19 m3/h in comparison
of 142.70 m3/h by numerical simulation with relative variation of
1.76%.

4.5. BEP ratio versus specific speed

In the present study, three cases with specific speed from 103 to
187 have been investigated. To sum up, Table 5 lists the best effi-
ciency and qBEP of all three cases in the current study. It can be
found that the best efficiency under turbine mode is just slightly
lower that under pump mode, which is of validity for hydropower
generation.
On qBEP results of 1.2171 for case A, 1.2680 for case B and 1.4270
for case C, the law can be concluded that the BEP ratio gradually
rises with the specific speed increasing, which also means that the
BEP moves to the larger flow rate with the specific speed increasing.

5. Loss analysis

In order to investigate the losses of centrifugal turbomachinery

under pump and turbine modes in details, the variation charac-
teristics of each loss versus flow rate under pump and turbine of
Case A modes are shown in Figs. 24 and 25, respectively.

5.1. Pump mode

As shown in Fig. 24, the losses inside centrifugal PAT under

Fig. 14. Comparison between numerical simulations and experiment measurements.
pump mode can be divided into three categories. (1) The increasing
type, which increases with the increasing of flow rate, includes
hydraulic loss in inlet pipe, surface friction loss in impeller, blade
loading loss in impeller, separation loss in impeller, wake mixing
loss in impeller, the recirculation loss, hydraulic friction loss of
spiral part in volute and hydraulic friction loss of diffuser part in
volute. (2) The decreasing type, which decreases with the
increasing of flow rate, includes disk friction loss in impeller and
leakage loss in impeller. (3) The parabolic type, which reaches the
minimum near the design flow rate and increases under off-design
conditions, includes incidence loss in impeller and incidence loss of
spiral part in volute. It can be found that most losses rise as the flow
rate increases. Among these type of losses, most presents an
approximate linear relation to the flow rate. For leakage loss, its
integrated value varies slightly, because it mainly depends on the
pressure difference from impeller inlet to outlet. The incidence
losses, which occur at not only impeller inlet but also volute inlet,
represent a parabolic relation versus flow rate, because they are
caused by the deviation of flow angle to designed blade angle under
 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732 725

Fig. 15. Energy performance of PAT.

Fig. 16. Theoretical prediction of energy performance under pump mode.

Fig. 17. Theoretical prediction of energy performance under turbine mode.

726 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732

Fig. 18. Energy performance of PAT.

Fig. 19. Theoretical prediction of energy performance under pump mode.

Fig. 20. Theoretical prediction of energy performance under turbine mode.

 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732 727

Fig. 21. Energy performance of PAT.

Fig. 22. Theoretical prediction of energy performance under pump mode.

Fig. 23. Theoretical prediction of energy performance under turbine mode.

728 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732

Table 5 off-design conditions.

Summary of hBEP and qBEP.

Case Ns hBEP,P hBEP,T qBEP

5.2. Turbine mode
A 103 77.24% 75.63% 1.2171
B 131 75.15% 74.69% 1.2680
C 187 80.77% 79.47% 1.4270 Under turbine mode, the losses can also be sorted into the above
three categories, as shown in Fig. 25. Hydraulic friction loss in
volute, surface friction loss in impeller, leakage loss in impeller and
hydraulic loss in outlet pipe are the increasing type. The blade
loading loss in impeller and incidence loss in impeller can be sorted
as the decreasing type and parabolic type, respectively.

Fig. 24. Losses under pump mode.

M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732 729

Fig. 24. (continued).

730 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732

Fig. 25. Losses under turbine mode.

 M. Liu et al. / Energy 172 (2019) 712e732
Figs. 24 and 25 indicate that the variation of loss among
different flow rates is smaller under turbine mode than that under
pump mode, which leads to the wide scope of high efficiency region
under turbine mode, as mentioned in Section 4.4. This phenome-
non shows that the impeller operates more stably when running as
the turbine. The variation trend of leakage loss is totally opposite
under two modes, which increases under pump mode while de-
creases under turbine mode. That is because the leakage loss is also
influenced by the theoretical head, and the variation trend of
theoretical head versus flow rate under pump and turbine modes is
opposite.
6. Conclusions
The theoretical model of energy performance prediction for
centrifugal pump as turbine under pump and turbine modes, and
the flowrate-based iteration method of BEP determination under
turbine mode are established in the present work. Losses inside the
centrifugal turbomachinery under pump and turbine modes are
modeled in straight pipe, impeller and volute, respectively. Three
centrifugal pumps with specific speed from 103 to 187 are
employed to validate the accuracy of the proposed method based
on experimental measurement and numerical simulation. The
following conclusions can be drawn:
(1) The proposed theoretical model of energy performance
prediction for pump as turbine under pump and turbine
modes is reliable and accurate with validation of three cases.
The averaged relative variations for pump head and effi-
ciency predictions are 6.12% and 5.51%, respectively, and they
are 5.40% and 3.63% for turbine head and efficiency pre-
dictions, respectively.
(2) The proposed flowrate-based iteration method of BEP
determination is also validated with three cases, and the
averaged relative variation is only 1.28%. This method can be
applied as an effective approach in BEP determination of PAT
in small hydropower station.
(3) The ratio of BEP at turbine mode to BEP at pump mode
gradually rises with the increase of specific speed, and the
best efficiency of turbine is just slightly lower than that un-
der pump mode.
(4) The centrifugal PAT proves to be an effective alternative for
power generation, due to its wide scope of high efficiency
region, especially under large flow rate. By contrast, the
turbine performance will decline remarkably under partial
flow rate.
Acknowledgments
This work has been supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China [51809148], the Open Research Fund Program
of State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering [sklhse-
2018-E-01], the State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engi-
neering [2018-KY-02], and the Key Laboratory of Fluid and Power
Machinery (Xihua University), Ministry of Education [szjj-2017-
100-1-004].
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of centrifugal pump with inlet guide vanes. J Hydroelectr Eng 2011;30(4):
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centrifugal pump at low flow rate. Chin Phys Lett 2012;29(1):014702.
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for centrifugal pump impellers. Proc IME J Power Energy 2012;226(6):
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[60] Tan L, Zhu BS, Cao SL, Wang YM. Cavitation flow simulation for a centrifugal
pump at a low flow rate. Sci Bull 2013;58(8):949e52.
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performance and pressure fluctuation of a mixed-flow pump. Proc IME J Po-
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performance of a mixed-flow pump. Proc IME J Power Energy 2018;232(4):
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[63] Liu M, Tan L, Cao SL. Design method of controllable blade angle and orthog-
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[64] Liu M, Tan L, Cao SL. Influence of geometry of inlet guide vanes on pressure
fluctuation of a centrifugal pump. ASME J Fluid Eng 2018;140:091204.
[65] Tan L, Zhu BS, Cao SL, Wang YC, Wang BB. Numerical simulation of unsteady
cavitation flow in a centrifugal pump at off-design conditions. Proc IME C J
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